English

Radium single-ion optical clock

Atomic Physics 2011-02-25 v1

Abstract

We explore the potential of the electric quadrupole transitions 7s2S1/27s\,^2S_{1/2} - 6d2D3/26d\,^2D_{3/2}, 6d2D5/26d\,^2D_{5/2} in radium isotopes as single-ion optical frequency standards. The frequency shifts of the clock transitions due to external fields and the corresponding uncertainties are calculated. Several competitive A^ARa+^+ candidates with A=A= 223 - 229 are identified. In particular, we show that the transition 7s2S1/2(F=2,mF=0)7s\,^2S_{1/2}\,(F=2,m_F=0) - 6d2D3/2(F=0,mF=0)6d\,^2D_{3/2}\,(F=0,m_F=0) at 828 nm in 223^{223}Ra+^+, with no linear Zeeman and electric quadrupole shifts, stands out as a relatively simple case, which could be exploited as a compact, robust, and low-cost atomic clock operating at a fractional frequency uncertainty of 101710^{-17}. With more experimental effort, the 223,225,226^{223,225,226}Ra+^+ clocks could be pushed to a projected performance reaching the 101810^{-18} level.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1102.4988,
  title  = {Radium single-ion optical clock},
  author = {O. O. Versolato and L. W. Wansbeek and K. Jungmann and R. G. E. Timmermans and L. Willmann and H. W. Wilschut},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1102.4988},
  year   = {2011}
}

Comments

20 pages, 1 figure

R2 v1 2026-06-21T17:31:09.993Z